Feb. 13, 2025

We Are The Hansons The Joys Of Watching Our Children Grow Up

We Are The Hansons The Joys Of Watching Our Children Grow Up

There's smething truly special about watching our children grow- seeing them discover their assions, overcome challenges, and step into the people they are meant to be. We reflect on the joys of parenting through different stages, from first steps to graduations, and everything in betwee. We'll share some of our favorite moments, the little things that make it all worth it, and the deep sense of pride and gratitude that comes with raising a big family. Join us as we celebrate the beauty of watching our kids grow up!

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Hey, everyone, welcome back to We Are the Handsome. Today

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we're talking about one of the greatest privileges of being

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a parent, watching our kids grow up. There are so

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many emotions that come with this, from pride and excitement

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to a little bit of wistfulness. As parents of a

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big family, we get to experience this over and over again,

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and let me tell you, it never gets old. We're

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going to share some of our favorite moments, the unexpected joys,

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and the little things that make parenting so rewarding. So

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grab a cup of coffee, get comfortable, and let's chat

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about this crazy, beautiful journey. There's something so special about

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first first step, first word, the first time they ride

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a bike without training wheels. Every time one of our

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kids reaches a new milestone, it's like we're experiencing it

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for the first time all over again. I still remember

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when Maddie took her first step, when Morgan took her

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first step, and when all of the other kids took

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their first steps. You know, they had this little determined

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look on their face, like they knew they were about

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to change the game. And once they figured it out,

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oh man, there was no stopping them. It's those moments

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you realize just how quickly time moves, and sometimes you

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just want to slow time down. And then there's the

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school milestones. First day of kindergarten, first lost tooth, first

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school play, first ball game. Seeing their confidence grow with

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each new experience is amazing. It's like watching them unfold

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into who they're meant to be. I sit there and

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watch every one of my kids. Each one learned at

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different times. Not one of my children were the same

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with their milestones. Some were quicker and some were a

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little slower, and that's okay. One of our biggest joys

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is watching our kids find their passions. You never really

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know what's going to click with each child. One might

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love sports, another might be all about music or art.

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The best part, we get a front row seat to

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all of it. I remember when one of our sons

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got into football for the first time and he was

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so little, running around in this oversized helmet. Just watching him,

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we seen that for most of our boys. Our boys

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started out doing wrestling, So just seeing them out there

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on a mat trying to throw a bigger kid around.

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I loved that. I loved it, and just to be

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there to see their skins ill and their confidence and

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it's just incredible to see how much they grow. And

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then there are kids who love to build, to draw,

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to cook, each of them carving out their own interest.

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I kind of got lucky because my boys they all

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pretty much loved the same sports, basketball and football. And

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then the girls were cheer and even down to my

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seven and eight year old, they love to cheer, They

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love to dance. Both of them want to do dance

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or gymnastics or something. Just to be able to watch that,

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it's so amazing. I'm so glad that I am the

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parent that is able to attend their stuff and watch

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them from very little all the way up and hell

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now where they're out on their own some of them,

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and they're working and they're creating a path to start

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their own family and journey. I love how each kid

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is different. Some take to things right away, Others struggle

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but push through, and that persistence is just as rewarding

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to watch. You see their character develop with every challenge

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they take on. It is so amazing to see as

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a parent. I think one of my favorite parts of

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watching our kids grow is seeing their relationships with each other.

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My boys did football together and my girls did cheer

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different age range, but Maddie started younger cheer and Morgan

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was just in the older cheer, almost gonna graduate when

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Maddie was doing her so it was kind of great

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that Morgan could be there to help her do her stances,

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do her cheers because she knew all them cheers before Mattie.

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In a big family, there are bound to be arguments,

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let's be real. There are plenty of that, but there's

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also so much love between our children. I love catching

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those little moments when they're helping each other out, sharing

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inside jokes and standing up for each other, because it

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shows me how much they mean to each other. The

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older ones teaching the younger ones things sometimes in ways

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we could never expect it, and as a parent, it

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just melt your heart, Like when one of our older

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boys taught his little brother how to ride a bike.

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I mean they even taught their sisters how to ride

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a bike. Gavin was out there all the time teaching

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Torren how to ride a bike and just being able

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to watch that. I was like, I love how our

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kids are together. He was so patient, running beside her,

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cheering her on, and when she finally got it, they

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both celebrated like they had just won a championship. There

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was hooting and hollering and all kinds of noise. I

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love that. Or being able to watch my daughter Morgan

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teach her brothers how to drive a stick shift car.

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That was funny because nobody knew how to drive a

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stick shift. Morgan learned first, and she was teaching her brothers.

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It was hilarious because they're like, there's no way my

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sister knows how to drive stick before we do. But

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guess what she did now. Watching them grow isn't easy.

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The teen years come with their own set of challenges.

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They start to pull away a little form their own opinions,

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and sometimes they don't want mom and dad around as much.

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We've kind of been blessed because our kids invite us

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to their house and do things with them, and it's

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just fun to be able to say, yeah, I'm going

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to my son's house or yeah I'm going to my

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daughter's house because they want you there. They invited you

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for a reason, and that means a lot to assess parents,

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But even in those moments, there's joy because watching them

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grow into their own person is incredible, seeing them make decisions,

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develop values and step into independence. It's bittersweet, but it's beautiful.

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It's really hard to explain because some people don't have kids,

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and I'm always telling my kids, when you have kids,

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you'll understand what I'm talking about. And before you know it,

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they're graduating, moving on to their careers and starting families

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of their own. That is also a beautiful thing. I

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think seeing your kids become parents is amazing because you

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get to see them teach their kids what they learned

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from you, and realizing that one day they'll be the

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ones raising their kids and hopefully they'll take a little

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bit of what you taught them and teach their own

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And that's what I've already experienced and watched as three

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of our children have had their own children. So it's

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an amazing feeling. There are nights when I sit back

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and think about how fast it's all gone. The days

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feel long, but the years they fly by. I mean,

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I still remember when my last baby, Anna was born.

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It was almost like I can remember like it was

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yesterday because of all the stuff that we went through.

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She was born so early. Now she's seven. It just

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goes so fast. And I tell my kids, when you

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guys have kids, and even our daughter that has a

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little girl. I'm always telling her, you know, suck up

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all of this because they grow quick, and now she's

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starting to see that for herself. One moment you're rocking

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them to sleep, and the next they're telling you about

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their future plans. It goes that quick. But you know what,

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I wouldn't trade it for anything. Watching them grow is

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one of the greatest gifts in my life. It's proof

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that love, time, and effort really do shape people. And

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I feel so grateful that we get to be part

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of their journey. I'm so thankful that we have raised

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our kids the way we have because they're all close

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and I want them to pass that on to their

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own children. To keep the bond together with your siblings,

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it's important. My kids are really close to their nieces

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and nephews, and the reason for that is because they

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aren't close to their aunts and uncles like they want

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to be, so they want that bond with their nieces

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and nephews. The nieces and nephews in Wisconsin are a

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little bit hard to bond with because you're not there.

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You don't get to see them all the time, but

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they try and stay in touch with them because it

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is important for a child. And that's how I feel

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about being a grandma is I'm always, always wanted to

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be with my grandbabies because it's so good to have

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a grandparent in your life. I lost my grandparents when

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I was little, so I didn't have that. But when

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I married Jeremy, his grandma became a huge part of

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my life and I've learned a lot from her, and

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I want my grandbabies to learn a lot from me

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and my husband, because it's important for kids to know

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their grandparents and for you to be a part of

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their life, and each one of them should be treated

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the same. My kids struggle with that every single day

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because they don't hear a lot from their grandparents and

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aunts and uncles. I don't want that for my kids.

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I want my kids to be a big part of

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their nieces and nephews' lives. And it ain't easy, like

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I said, because some live far away, but just to

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be there, even if it's a phone caller of video chat,

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it's better than nothing at all. So as I continue

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to watch my kids grow up, I wish I could

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slow time down. I wish I could put us in

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a time machine and slow it way down because it

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goes by so fast. And once your kids, I would say,

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once they get through middle school, it's like time just

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flies by. You want them out of elementary school and stuff,

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but once they hit fifth grade, it's over and no time.

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It's almost like the blink of an eye. I want

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to cherish all those memories because I can remember from

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the time our oldest was little all the way up

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tell they graduated, and I can remember. It's almost like

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a movie that plays on repeat. I don't want to

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forget that. I want to remember that, and it just

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makes it even more interesting when they embark on their

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own journey, because you're seeing them become a mother, a father.

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It's amazing. I cannot wait to see where the younger

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girls end up, because they have such big dreams of

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what they want to be when they're older. My little Anna,

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she tells us all the time that she wants to

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be a doctor, a brain doctor, and I think that

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is because she has gone through so much with neurology

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and brain scans and all of that stuff. She wants

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to be the doctor to help that child. And I

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honestly think with everything she's gone through that she will

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succeed at that, and I cannot wait to see if

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that's the path she takes. Each one of my kids

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had different ideas of what they wanted to be growing up.

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I don't think any of them have followed the path

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that they wanted to go. They all changed a little

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bit in some way of the path they wanted to go.

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Morgan always wanted to do something with kids, but I thought, maybe,

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you know, counseling or something like that, because she's really

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good with children. But she decided to take the path

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of being a teacher. And that's okay, because we need

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good teachers. We need someone like her that is caring

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and compassionate and loves kids. And a lot of that

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is because of being raised in a big family with

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little siblings. She grew up. You know, she is very

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protective of her sisters and even her brothers. But she

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always said, Mom, the boys are boys, they can defend themselves.

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The girls not so much. So She's always been real

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protective of the littler ones. And I mean even the

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bigger boys are protective of the girls, especially. You know,

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I always hear them say no boyfriends, or no this,

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or are you talking to a boy. You know, they're

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always after the little ones, and I sure hope my

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younger girls. I hope they wait to have a boyfriend

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because they need to be able to find their self

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and enjoy life before they run into that. But all

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of our kids are pretty good. Just being able to

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watch them grow up is amazing. And anybody who has

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kids knows what I'm talking about when I say that

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it's sad to see them grow up because you always

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want them to stay little. But on the other hand,

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you want them to grow up and you want to

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watch them create their own journey and start their own families.

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So if you're in the thick of parenting, whether you've

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got little ones running around or teenagers pushing for independence,

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take a moment to appreciate the ride. You know, every stage,

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every challenge, and every joy is part of something bigger.

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Thanks for joining us today and we are the Handsens.

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We'd love to hear about the joys you've found in

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watching your kids grow. You can send us a message

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on our Facebook page at we are the Handsens. You

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can also send us email We are the Hansens Show

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at gmail dot com and do me a favor and

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go to our YouTube channel. We are the Hansens and

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subscribe to our channel to enjoy all of our wonderful podcasts.

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Thank you all, and we appreciate you being here with

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us